How to elegantly check if a number is within a range?

Question

How can I do this elegantly with C# and .NET 3.5/4?

For example, a number can be between 1 and 100.

I know a simple if would suffice; but the keyword to this

Answer 1

These are some Extension methods that can help

  public static bool IsInRange<T>(this T value, T min, T max)
where T : System.IComparable<T>
    {
        return value.IsGreaterThenOrEqualTo(min) && value.IsLessThenOrEqualTo(max);
    }


    public static bool IsLessThenOrEqualTo<T>(this T value, T other)
         where T : System.IComparable<T>
    {
        var result = value.CompareTo(other);
        return result == -1 || result == 0;
    }


    public static bool IsGreaterThenOrEqualTo<T>(this T value, T other)
         where T : System.IComparable<T>
    {
        var result = value.CompareTo(other);
        return result == 1 || result == 0;
    }

Answer 2

Cause all the other answer are not invented by me, here just my implementation:

public enum Range
{
    /// <summary>
    /// A range that contains all values greater than start and less than end.
    /// </summary>
    Open,
    /// <summary>
    /// A range that contains all values greater than or equal to start and less than or equal to end.
    /// </summary>
    Closed,
    /// <summary>
    /// A range that contains all values greater than or equal to start and less than end.
    /// </summary>
    OpenClosed,
    /// <summary>
    /// A range that contains all values greater than start and less than or equal to end.
    /// </summary>
    ClosedOpen
}

public static class RangeExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Checks if a value is within a range that contains all values greater than start and less than or equal to end.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The value that should be checked.</param>
    /// <param name="start">The first value of the range to be checked.</param>
    /// <param name="end">The last value of the range to be checked.</param>
    /// <returns><c>True</c> if the value is greater than start and less than or equal to end, otherwise <c>false</c>.</returns>
    public static bool IsWithin<T>(this T value, T start, T end) where T : IComparable<T>
    {
        return IsWithin(value, start, end, Range.ClosedOpen);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Checks if a value is within the given range.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The value that should be checked.</param>
    /// <param name="start">The first value of the range to be checked.</param>
    /// <param name="end">The last value of the range to be checked.</param>
    /// <param name="range">The kind of range that should be checked. Depending on the given kind of range the start end end value are either inclusive or exclusive.</param>
    /// <returns><c>True</c> if the value is within the given range, otherwise <c>false</c>.</returns>
    public static bool IsWithin<T>(this T value, T start, T end, Range range) where T : IComparable<T>
    {
        if (value == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(value));

        if (start == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(start));

        if (end == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(end));

        switch (range)
        {
            case Range.Open:
                return value.CompareTo(start) > 0
                       && value.CompareTo(end) < 0;
            case Range.Closed:
                return value.CompareTo(start) >= 0
                       && value.CompareTo(end) <= 0;
            case Range.OpenClosed:
                return value.CompareTo(start) > 0
                       && value.CompareTo(end) <= 0;
            case Range.ClosedOpen:
                return value.CompareTo(start) >= 0
                       && value.CompareTo(end) < 0;
            default:
                throw new ArgumentException($"Unknown parameter value {range}.", nameof(range));
        }
    }
}

You can then use it like this:

var value = 5;
var start = 1;
var end = 10;

var result = value.IsWithin(start, end, Range.Closed);

Answer 3

Do you mean?

if(number >= 1 && number <= 100)

or

bool TestRange (int numberToCheck, int bottom, int top)
{
  return (numberToCheck >= bottom && numberToCheck <= top);
}

Answer 4

A new twist on an old favorite:

public bool IsWithinRange(int number, int topOfRange, int bottomOfRange, bool includeBoundaries) {
    if (includeBoundaries)
        return number <= topOfRange && number >= bottomOfRange;
    return number < topOfRange && number > bottomOfRange;
}

Answer 5

Just to add to the noise here, you could create an extension method:

public static bool IsWithin(this int value, int minimum, int maximum)
{
    return value >= minimum && value <= maximum;
}

Which would let you do something like...

int val = 15;

bool foo = val.IsWithin(5,20);

That being said, this seems like a silly thing to do when the check itself is only one line.

Answer 6

Regarding elegance, the closest thing to the mathematical notation (a <= x <= b) slightly improves readability:

public static bool IsBetween(this int value, int min, int max)
{
    return min <= value && value <= max;
}

For further illustration:

public static bool IsOutside(this int value, int min, int max)
{
    return value < min || max < value;
}